Rose Blanche – Harbour Le Cou council highlights: January – June 2020

The historic lighthouse at Rose Blanche – Harbour Le Cou remains closed due to COVID-19. – © J. Rene Roy

The town council of Rose Blanche – Harbour Le Cou has been busy even in the wake of COVID-19. Here are some of the highlights of their meetings from Jan. to June 2020.

In January, the town Recreation Committee asked to meet with members to discuss the town’s upcoming 50th anniversary next year. Due to COVID-19 the event is currently on hold, but will be re-addressed next year. Some kind of event may still take place, but it’s unlikely to be as big as what the town was originally hoping to host.

There was also concern about ambulance response being unable to get to town during storms. Council reached out to MHA Andrew Parsons and the Department of Transportation and Works to see what could be done to make sure local emergency services can respond to an emergency situation despite weather conditions.

In February council received communication by an unnamed company expressing potential interest in the quartz mine located in Diamond Cove. Council intended to reach out to the local service district at Diamond Cove, but after checking with the Department of Mines, Lands and Natural Resources felt it was way too early to determine anything. Should the company continue to express interest, council will invite them to a meeting with all parties, but to date no further communication has taken place.

At the April meeting, council noted that there was a great deal of garbage and other debris being improperly discarded around town, especially on parking areas such as the one at the historic lighthouse site. Public notices were planned to advise people that littering is prohibited, and that illegal dumping can lead to charges.

In May, Mayor Clayton Durnford reported that residents were bringing forth concerns about seasonal residents. People were informed that exemptions are the purview of the provincial health authorities and that residents not following the guidelines must report it to the province rather than the town.

Harbour Authority began installing signage to let docking vessels know that if they were coming from out of province they would not be permitted onshore, though they would be supplied water. Any persons onboard an out of province vessel were obliged to follow Provincial Health Guidelines and remain onboard to comply with mandatory self-isolation regulations. To date the town has only had one ship visit and it was a Newfoundland vessel.

At the June meeting it was noted that the historic lighthouse and guest kiosks would remain closed for the summer season due to COVID-19 concerns, however the gate remained opened so that visitors could continue to walk the trail.

The Recreation Committee advised that the playground was reopened until 8 p.m. with a student taking care of the daily cleaning. Social distancing guidelines were also posted at the area and on the town’s social media page.

Given that home assessments are down across the entire province, there was some concern noted about the upcoming budget.

The annual firefighter’s ball that had originally been scheduled for Sept. 19 has been postponed and no new date has yet been determined.

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